So it’s officially summer though, to be honest, I wouldn’t know it. I’m knee-deep in teaching summer school health. It’s actually not as bad as it sounds. While I’d REALLY LOVE some time off, I rarely get to be in the classroom teaching students subject matter that I’m so passionate about. I mean, what’s not to love about spending 2 hours a day, 5 days a week talking to high schoolers about topics such as consent education, mood disorders, and sex education!? Fun, right!?

In the midst of all of this, my husband has been out-of-town for a week and a half (half a week to go!) and while I’m really loving having all this time with our girls, mama is in need for a little ‘me’ time. As it is, I’ve been getting up at around 5am just so I can enjoy a hot cup of coffee and a fresh episode of The Great British Baking Show before the girls get up and it’s ‘go’ time. I don’t know about you, but as a parent, I struggled with anxiety when it came to the weeks leading up to being alone with the kids for an extended amount of time. When Eden was just 4 weeks old, husband had to go to Miami for a few days in order to complete some research for his PhD and if anyone is a proponent of exposure therapy for anxiety, it is me as that time alone with an infant and a 3 year-old truly taught me that I can do it. Now that the girls are older and Eden is at one nap a day, I’m able to actually enjoy my alone time with the girls. We can get out, explore this great city with my little buddies and, dare I say it, have fun. Our absolute favorite activity is to head to the beach with sand toys and picnic in hand. I’ve been trying to up our picnic game as lately it’s been day-after-day of pb & j sandwiches and cucumbers. Therefore, I put a call out to some food blogging buddies and the result is the recipe round-up below, which is chock full of vegetarian and vegan options for your summer picnics! I hope you enjoy and don’t forget your sunscreen!

 

Kosher ‘Krab’ Cakes with Zoodles and Avocado Crema from Jewhungry

 

Broccoli Salad with Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing from The Roasted Root

Kalyn’s Tabbouleh with Almonds from Kalyn’s Kitchen

Arabic Potato Salad from Persnickety Plates

Chipotle Hummus-Stuffed Potato Bites from The Lemon Bowl

Moroccan Sweet Potato Salad from Food Faith Fitness

Mediterranean Deviled Egg Recipe with Roasted Red Pepper and Hummus from Two Healthy Kitchens

Lentil Quinoa Salad with Golden Raisins and Lemon Dressing from Noshtastic

California Cowboy Caviar from Fork and Beans

Lentil Hand Pies with Walnut Pesto from Delish Knowledge

Israeli Couscous Recipe with Chopped Veggies, Chickpeas, and Artichoke from The Mediterranean Dish

All-Natural Carrot Dogs from Healthy Slow Cooking

Falafel Feta Salad from Jewhungry 

 

vegan pasta e fagioli

Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa and a belated Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. I am currently mid-week through the second and last week of my winter break from school (day job is as a high school counselor) and I must admit, staycations in L.A. are pretty awesome. We were originally planning on heading to Ojai for a week during this vacation break but we cancelled our plans last-minute as we are actually moving soon so needed to save that cash money for the move. But, never fear! We live in an amazing city full of extremely expensive family activities so there are a lot of things to do . . . . only we haven’t done them because of the aforementioned expensive. Ok, that’s not true. We did ice skating one day, which cost so much money it’s embarrassing. So aside from the ice skating, we haven’t really ventured out much. It’s shockingly cold in L.A. this season so we’ve done a lot of family baking/cooking projects, at-home movie matinees, neighborhood exploring (going to other neighborhoods and taking nice strolls through them) and grocery shopping. Lots and Lots of grocery shopping.

vegan pasta e fagioli

 

 

vegan pasta e fagioli

Due to the fact that it’s the Chanukah season, we have also eaten our fair share of donuts and fried foods. That is, until one day last week I decided it was time for some vegetables. I scoured Pinterest for some inspiration and settled on soup. Soup! Yes! It rained 4 days in a row this break (Baruch Hashem) so we were in the mood for something comforting and healthy. Back in my non-kosher days, the soup that would bring me this type of comfort was, no joke, The Olive Garden’s Pasta e Fagioli. The perfect combo of vegetables, greasy meat and pasta! It’s like a hug for your belly. The traditional Pasta e Fagioli is made with sausage so what’s a kosher lady to do? Use soy crumbles and lots of fennel seed, of course! You are welcome to omit soy crumbles and just season your veggies with the seasonings I’ve listed below or you can also get some vegan sausage meat and use that. I’ve kosher Pasta e Fagioli with unseasoned soy crumbles and seasoned vegan sausage meat and I actually prefer the unseasoned soy crumbles. Honestly though, both are delicious.

 

vegan pasta e fagioli

There have been donuts. LOTS and LOTS of donuts.

 

 

We did staycation right this Winter Break

 

We also ate the occasional dreidel toad-in-the-hole.

 

I joined Snapchat so that I could do a Snapchat takeover for The Feed Feed. Did you happen to see it? If not, it’ll be up on The Feed Feed’s site so check it out. But, do not look me up on Snapchat cause I deleted it yesterday. Not for me. No thank you.

 

vegan pasta e fagioli

 

Vegan Pasta e Fagioli

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup ditalini pasta
  • 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
  • 2 cups soy crumbles or soy sausage
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 carrots, peeled and diced
  • 2 stalks celery, diced
  • 3 cups veggie broth
  • 1 (16-ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried basil
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tsp dried fennel seed (1 tsp if using Italian-seasoned vegan sausage)
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tbsp black pepper
  • 1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (15-ounce) can Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Directions:

  1. In a medium pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well and set aside.
  2. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add soy crumbles/sausage to the skillet and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes. Make sure to break up the soy sausage crumble as it cooks; set aside once done.
  3. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the same stockpot. Stir in garlic, onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes.
  4. Next, add the seasonings to the veggies and stir. Cook, stirring occasionally for another 2 to 3 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the spices are fragrant.
  5.  Add in vegetable broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, soy crumbles and 1 cup water; taste and add more salt if necessary. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender, about 10-15 minutes.
  6. Stir in pasta and beans until heated through. Serve while hot!

jewhungry kosher food blog

 

Well, the holidays are officially upon us. Even though I am steeped in food on the regular, I am still waaaaaaay behind in my holiday preparations. I haven’t even menu planned. Blargh!! I do this to myself every. single. year. I invite a ton of people over because I LOVE LOVE LOVE hosting but then I end up all stressed out the day of first night dinner because I’m running around trying to get sh*t done. It also doesn’t help that I have a strict 8:30pm bedtime (I work full time and have 2 kids. I’m in survival mode here, people) so there’s no staying up super late and doing tons of baking for me. Nope, I’d rather just woman up and deal with it come the day of the holiday. The good news, however, is that I know a few people in food with some amazing food blogs so inspiration is but a click and an hour of web-surfing away. The other bit of good news is that I’ve been writing for a lovely website called, InterfaithFamily.com, an organization whose mission is to support interfaith families exploring Jewish life. I’ve written several posts for them over the couple months so I thought I’d get organized and give you a look-see. I also had the IMMENSE pleasure of writing a guest post for Chanie at Busy in Brooklyn. All links will be posted below! I hope you get some inspiration for your holidays or your daily meal-planning. Shanah Tovah!

Jewhungry kosher food blog

Roast Cauliflower and Sweet Potato wit Figs + Tahini

Jewhungry kosher food blog

Cilantro, Lime + (Coconut Milk) Yogurt Grilled Chicken Wings

Jewhungry kosher food blog

Buffalo Quinoa Burgers

jewhungry kosher food blog

Fall Farmer’s Market Salad

Jewhungry the kosher blog

Semolina Cara Cara Orange Cake

Shanah Tovah, from the littlest little queen and me!

Shanah Tovah, from the littlest little queen and me!

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